RYAN COOK PROFILE >>
Ryan Cook spoke to collingwoodfc.com.au after being told he will make his AFL debut against Carlton this Saturday at the MCG.
The 19-year-old, a hard-running midfielder from Rosebud on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, was told of the news by senior coach Mick Malthouse on Wednesday afternoon.
“Mick came up to me after training, and said he’d like to have a chat at the end of the day,” Cook explained.
“So I went into his office, and after hearing the news, I came out all smiles.”
Selected from the Dandenong Stingrays with the 23rd overall pick in the 2005 AFL Draft, behind team mates Dale Thomas, Scott Pendlebury and Danny Stanley, Cook has watched eight fellow youngsters, including Stanley, pull on the Collingwood jumper for the first time this season.
But it hasn’t been a major focus of his to get selected for the Magpies. Instead, he’s been devoted to performing strongly each week for the club’s VFL affiliate Williamstown, although watching his mates go so well at their first crack at AFL footy has given him a spur.
“Senior selection has never really popped into my head. I’ve simply been worried about knuckling down and playing well for Williamstown.”
“I guess seeing them (the eight debutants) run around, their performances have made me proud, and if anything it’s made me want to get out there and do just as well.”
When he speaks of “knuckling down”, Cook, who will be the 1070th player ever to pull on the famous Collingwood guernsey, explains that much of his development can be attributed to the assistance he’s received from friend and team mate Tarkyn Lockyer.
“Tarks has been great, and his good form has been rubbing off on me I think.
“I lived with him for the first few months I was down here at the club, and he’s helped me a lot ever since. He’s taken me under his wing in a way, been a bit of a father-figure to me, and worked with me on touch, weights and skills each week.”
Now, with his first AFL appearance only days away, news has spread to Cook’s family and friends, many of whom live on the Peninsula, and who he says are nearly as excited as he is.
“They’re all over the moon, but they can’t be more excited than me. They want to hire a bus and come to the MCG together from Rosebud. They want a whole bay to themselves.”
Ryan Cook spoke to collingwoodfc.com.au after being told he will make his AFL debut against Carlton this Saturday at the MCG.
The 19-year-old, a hard-running midfielder from Rosebud on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, was told of the news by senior coach Mick Malthouse on Wednesday afternoon.
“Mick came up to me after training, and said he’d like to have a chat at the end of the day,” Cook explained.
“So I went into his office, and after hearing the news, I came out all smiles.”
Selected from the Dandenong Stingrays with the 23rd overall pick in the 2005 AFL Draft, behind team mates Dale Thomas, Scott Pendlebury and Danny Stanley, Cook has watched eight fellow youngsters, including Stanley, pull on the Collingwood jumper for the first time this season.
But it hasn’t been a major focus of his to get selected for the Magpies. Instead, he’s been devoted to performing strongly each week for the club’s VFL affiliate Williamstown, although watching his mates go so well at their first crack at AFL footy has given him a spur.
“Senior selection has never really popped into my head. I’ve simply been worried about knuckling down and playing well for Williamstown.”
“I guess seeing them (the eight debutants) run around, their performances have made me proud, and if anything it’s made me want to get out there and do just as well.”
When he speaks of “knuckling down”, Cook, who will be the 1070th player ever to pull on the famous Collingwood guernsey, explains that much of his development can be attributed to the assistance he’s received from friend and team mate Tarkyn Lockyer.
“Tarks has been great, and his good form has been rubbing off on me I think.
“I lived with him for the first few months I was down here at the club, and he’s helped me a lot ever since. He’s taken me under his wing in a way, been a bit of a father-figure to me, and worked with me on touch, weights and skills each week.”
Now, with his first AFL appearance only days away, news has spread to Cook’s family and friends, many of whom live on the Peninsula, and who he says are nearly as excited as he is.
“They’re all over the moon, but they can’t be more excited than me. They want to hire a bus and come to the MCG together from Rosebud. They want a whole bay to themselves.”
